The invention is based on a cranking device for internal combustion engines.
From German Patent Disclosure DE-A 40 06 795, once such cranking device (starter) is known. In this version, an intermediate plate intended for a gear arrangement bearing, is widened toward the top in the form of a flange so that the starting relay will fit all the way into it; a bearing block for the deflection lever of the starting relay is inserted into the drive bearing plate. The bearing block is braced against the intermediate plate via a rubber plate.
Adapting the starter to geometric conditions in the installation space in the engine is done, with regard to the position of pinion repose and the extent of shifting for the pinion, especially by adapting the components in the group comprising the bearing block, the drive bearing plate, and the relay and tie rod (paddle). The modifications are limited to parts that are easy to make, in particular to the drive bearing plate, which is already a part that is specific for a particular vehicle manufacturer. When the cranking device is put together, however, joining together the drive bearing plate and the other parts of the cranking device does not meet the demands for a safely automatable assembly process, since in this operation the parts have to be put together simultaneously at a plurality of critical joining points; specifically, the drive bearing plate has to be put together in this way with the intermediate plate, the power takeoff shaft, the bearing block, and the rubber plate; and the intermediate plate has to be put together in this way with the relay fitting. Maintaining the relative position of these individual parts before enduring the assembly is especially problematic. A further difficulty is that in preassembly, the parts to be mounted on the intermediate plate can be shifted counter to one another by a shifting spring and a restoring spring, and the consequence is considerable effort in terms of readjustment work.
German Patent Disclosure DE-A 28 22 165 also discloses an embodiment in which the starting relay is inserted and firmly screwed into a fitting between the drive bearing plate and a sealing part of the starter housing. There, the shifting spring is disposed on a driving sleeve that carried both a free-wheel coupling and the shifting pinion. This embodiment without an intermediate plate still has the disadvantage of many joining points for the drive bearing plate, especially whenever a gear arrangement and an intermediate plate for the gear arrangement of the drive device is needed, especially since there again the spring forces of the shifting spring require readjustment of the pre-mounted parts.
Finally, from French Patent Disclosure FR-A 2 555 670, an embodiment is known in which an intermediate plate of the cranking device is joined to a plastic bearing block molded on by injection for a starting lever. When the gear arrangement and the starting relay are premounted on the intermediate plate, the forked lever must on the one hand be inserted on the gear arrangement and on the other must be secured both to the bearing block and to the tie rod of this starting relay by introducing bearing bolts. However, this cannot be done fully automatically, since the forked lever, loosely inserted on the gear arrangement in the preassembly process, is not positioned exactly enough, and thus the bearing pins have to inserted individually on the forked lever.
With the present embodiment, the goal is to improve the preassembly of the parts to be connected in the intermediate plate in such a way that fully automatic assembly of the cranking device becomes possible.